Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky Cornell appeared on Good Morning America today (Feb. 21) to discuss the Soundgarden legend’s 2017 suicide. Vicky revealed the full details of the singer’s drug relapse, which occurred just a couple of months before his death. She also stated, “I don’t think he could make any decisions because of the level of [his] impairment.”

According to Vicky Cornell, her husband had been sober since 2003. With 14 years of clean living under his belt, Chris’ relapse was triggered by being prescribed a benzodiazepine to help him cope with an injury. “Approximately a year before he died, he was prescribed a benzodiazepine to help him sleep,” says Vicky. “He had torn his shoulder … the pain in the shoulder was waking him up at night and it was keeping him up.”

Cornell began showing signs of a relapse when he began taking “20-something pills” during a weeklong period and 33 over a nine-day period. “He had really delayed speech. He was forgetful,” Vicky recalls. “The brain of someone who has a substance use disorder is different from that of someone who doesn’t. He relapsed.”

In March 2017, Chris reached out to a friend via email, writing, “Would love to talk, had relapse.” Unfortunately, the Soundgarden legend would continue to struggle, performing his last show on May 17. “He was off pitch, he forgot words, he walked off stage,” Vicky describes. “Chris Cornell doesn’t do those kinds of things. He’s not that kind of a rock star.”

“You think addiction is a choice, and it’s not a choice. It’s in all of our houses. It’s in rich, poor, it has no racial boundaries, it does not discriminate,” Vicky enthused. “I think that if there was less stigma around it, more people would speak up. My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie. He just wasn’t. He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life.”

Watch the full Good Morning America interview with Vicky Cornell in the video above.